~ Dr.Suneel Sethi's Blog

Category Archives: Education

What are the principles of modern learning? Well, that depends on how you define ‘learning’ and what you’d consider ‘modern.’

Richard Olsen had put together this in a useful visual way in 2013–a chart that lays out three categories of a modern approach to learning–Modern, Self-Directed, and Social. These broad categories are then broken up into four principles per category. Each principle is then described by its Reality (its function) and Opportunity (the result of that function). Honestly, these two categories are a bit confusing–or at least the distinction between some of the entries are (the ability to participate and enables modern learners to participate, for example). Overall, though, defining ‘modern learning’ through inquiry, self-direction, and connectivity is at the core.

Let’s take a look at what it’s saying by exploring the first category, Modern Inquiry Learning. The 4 principles in of Modern Inquiry Learning, according to the graphic, are Compile, Contribute, Combine, and Change, with their respective Realities and Opportunities shown below.

Compile

Reality The ability to save and retrieve information in a variety of formats.

While the graphic doesn’t really get at the core values of what makes each approach Inquiry, Self-Direction and Connectivity valuable and worthwhile and so misses a huge opportunity, the trifecta of the three does in fact represent prevailing movements in progressive education. Technology, for example, would be a part of each. It supports inquiry and self-direction while being both a cause and effect of connectivity.

How should you use this to guide your teaching? You could take the verbs shown here e.g., contribute and correlate and design projects or activities alongside your students. You could also present a document like these at staff or department meetings by slamming it down on the table and asking ‘Where’s the progress? ”

Like this:

A Happy New Year to all the members of the higher education community in Canada and beyond. We look forward to sharing many incredible stories with you in 2017, but for now, we’d like to take a look back at the year that was with our Second Annual Canadian Higher Education Year in Review. Instead of highlighting the top ten individual news items of 2016, we’ve decided this year to curate and explore the ten themes that most defined the Canadian PSE landscape over the past twelve months. So without further ado, this year’s themes are:

Indigenization

After Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its recommendations in mid-2015, 2016 saw postsecondary institutions from across Canada working to implement these recommendations in a variety of ways. These efforts often fell under large-scale indigenization initiatives, and included a host of new programs and community consultations designed to make schools more welcoming to and representative of Canada’s Indigenous peoples. Moira MacDonald wrote a comprehensive article on the subject of indigenization for University Affairs, while Academica Group published a piece outlining concrete ways that institutions can pursue indigenization initiatives.

On the federal level, critics challenged the Canadian government’s decision not to include $50M per year in new funding for the Post-Secondary Student Support Program, which the Liberals had pledged to do during their 2015 election campaign. An Access to Information request filed by the federal NDP later revealed that postsecondary funding for Indigenous students had declined by 18.3% between 1997 and 2015, due in part to a 2% cap on yearly increases in funding to the PSSSP that has been in place since 1996.

In April, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled that the federal government has a constitutional responsibility to Métis, Inuit, and First Nations peoples without registered Indian status, which extends to the delivery of social programs and services such as the Post-Secondary Student Support Program.

Conflicts in Campus Culture

2016 saw a number of high-profile conflicts concerning the culture of institutions. Trinity Western University won legal victories in Nova Scotia and British Columbia to secure accreditation for its proposed law school, while it lost a bid to overturn a denial of accreditation in Ontario. These legal battles drew attention to TWU’s community covenant, which critics alleged amounted to discrimination against the LGBTQ community; yet TWU and its supporters insisted that denying accreditation for its law school constituted a violation of the school’s religious freedom. In November, the Law Society of British Columbia announced that it would take its case to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The year also saw University of Toronto Professor Jordan Peterson criticize a proposed federal human rights bill and state that he would refuse to use genderless pronouns if a student asked him to do so. Peterson’s positions on free speech and related issues have sparked national debate about a potential conflict between academic freedom, campus inclusiveness, and human rights law.

The events of Brexit and the US presidential election further fueled debates about inclusiveness and freedom of speech on postsecondary campuses. Critics have accused students and social activists of being unwilling to hear uncomfortable or different points of view, while others have argued that appeals to rational dialogue and freedom of speech disproportionately benefit those who are already privileged and make campuses less welcoming for members of marginalized groups.

Sexual Violence

Sexual violence figured prominently in many higher education news stories throughout 2016, as concerns grew about a lack of accurate data on the subject and institutions pushed for the development of sexual assault policies. In April, British Columbia joined Ontario in mandating that all postsecondary institutions develop standalone sexual misconduct policies. In October, the Manitoba government also introduced new sexual violence legislation that was praised by the Canadian Federation of Students.

While some institutions had a relatively smooth experience developing and installing new policies, others encountered difficulties or barriers that highlighted the complexity of the process and the issue at hand. The Ottawa Citizen ran extensive coverage of the creation of Carleton University’s sexual assault policy, which was approved by the university’s board in early December following months of debate.

Throughout 2016, a number of schools across Canada were accused of not properly supporting victims or not taking enough action against those accused of committing sexual violence. These accusations often grew into larger debates about the role that postsecondary institutions should play in policing matters of sexual assault.

Internationalization

The emphasis on internationalization in 2016 was nothing new compared to recent years, but what was new was the changing nature of this term and what it means for Canadian higher ed. For starters, 2016 saw a greater emphasis on the two-way nature of internationalization, with a growing emphasis on the need to encourage more Canadian students to study abroad. In April, Academica released a StudentVu report charting Canadian students’ attitudes toward study abroad.

One of the year’s biggest developments in the area of internationalization was a set of changes that the federal government made to policies impacting international students coming to Canada. In March, the government introduced legislation reducing the period of physical residency required to apply for citizenship and allowing students to count time spent studying in Canada toward this requirement. In November, a new change to Canada’s Express Entry immigration system also increased the number of points awarded to applicants who obtain a university degree in Canada.

But perhaps the biggest theme in internationalization in Canadian higher education this year was Canada’s demonstration of openness to the world at a time when other western countries appear to have become more closed. Many Canadian institutions brought in new programming to support Syrian refugees who wished to attend Canadian institutions and in the wake of both Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, Canadian institutions and policy analysts began reporting higher numbers of inquiries for enrolment from international students. In recent months, school presidents have also made explicit calls for Canada to embrace openness at a time when other countries have not. This openness toward international students was echoed by Canadian students in a StudentVu report published in April.

Free PSE Tuition

In 2016, Ontario and New Brunswick became the first provinces to offer free tuition to students from low-income families. The move in NB generated backlash, as many protested the elimination of the province’s tuition tax credits and private colleges threatened legal action for not being made eligible for the province’s Tuition Access Bursary program. In Alberta, a decision by the NDP government to continue a provincial tuition freeze was met with concern from some PSE leaders, who said that the inability to raise tuition would force schools to look elsewhere to make up for budgetary shortfalls.

In April, Canadian Alliance of Student Associations Chairman Erik Queenan published a piece suggesting that the introduction of free tuition models in other provinces was highly likely following the decisions in ON and NB. On the national stage, the Canadian Federation of Students released a report calling for free PSE tuition across the country and held a nationwide day of action in support of this mission.

Student Mental Health

2016 saw a number of concerning reports on trends in student mental health across Canada. A national survey of 44,000 PSE students showed an increase in the number of students reporting serious mental health crises. A study of Ontario teenagers also found that 14% of students qualified as having “serious” psychological distress compared to 10% in 2013. Among the most concerning studies was the National College Health Assessment survey, which showed that one in every eight postsecondary students in Alberta had “seriously considered” suicide within the past year. The cross-country numbers on mental health correlated with reports of increased demand for mental health services at some campuses, leading to concerns about whether the supply of such services could keep up with demand.

These concerning numbers, however, also gave rise to a number of stories on how Canada’s postsecondary institutions were responding to the declining mental health outcomes of postsecondary students. A number of Atlantic institutions participated in a three-year initiative to “create, evaluate, and disseminate a comprehensive and effective campus mental health framework.” The Torontoist also ran a piece featuring some of the positive initiatives undertaken by colleges and universities in the Greater Toronto Area.

Work-Integrated Learning

There were few trends in learning that generated as many headlines in 2016 as work-integrated learning (WIL), with countless members of the higher education community and the general population calling for more WIL opportunities for Canada’s postsecondary students. Among the most highly touted benefits were the workplace preparation, professionalization, and industry partnerships that WIL fosters .

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne garnered both skepticism and support after boldly calling for 100% of postsecondary students in ON to complete some form of WIL before graduating. Some questioned whether so many opportunities could be created, and if so, what quality of learning they would provide. Prominent higher education leaders such as University of Calgary President Elizabeth Cannon and George Brown College President Anne Sado also called for universal WIL opportunities, co-authoring a piece that laid out four fundamental principles that will set Canada on the path toward this goal.

Canada’s Business Higher Education Roundtable also made headlines in June with a call for universal WIL opportunities across Canada. To support this mission, the BHER commissioned Academica Group to produce a comprehensive report on the state of WIL in Canada and how it might be expanded and improved going forward. The Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario also released a helpful guide to better clarify what makes for a positive WIL opportunity.

Cybercrime

2016 saw an increased awareness around cyber attacks against postsecondary institutions. One of the most prominent examples was a “ransom ware” attack in which the University of Calgary paid a hacker $20K in order to retrieve encrypted data. One UK report later revealed that 63% of PSE institutions in that country had suffered these types of attacks, with one institution reporting that it had suffered 21 distinct attacks during the reporting period. In September, David Shipley, Director of Strategic Initiatives for Information Technology Services at University of New Brunswick, spoke with the CBC about the school’s four point strategy for handling cyber attacks. Memorial University launched a ransom ware awareness campaign after experiencing its own attack in an effort to help students understand how to avoid ransom ware attacks and what to do in the event of one occurring.

These stories gave rise to a new awareness around the frequency and commonality of these attacks. This trend has coincided with a number of schools making significant investments in cyber security research and training.

Learning Outcomes, Employability Concerns

2016 saw continued growth in the number of stories relating to postsecondary learning outcomes and learning outcomes assessments. One of the more striking stories came from a Statistics Canada report in September, which showed that many postsecondary graduates who had been considered “overqualified” for their jobs lacked basic skills in reading, writing, and numeracy.

The Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario also announced that it would pursue large-scale assessment of core skills for both the college and university sectors. The organization also produced a report demonstrating that in practice, colleges and universities tend to use learning outcomes assessment in similar ways.

Conversations about learning outcomes assessment have often overlapped with concerns about the employability of today’s postsecondary graduates, and about what skills employers are demanding in greater numbers.

In May, the Conference Board of Canada released a report calling for a greater alignment of Canadian PSE and the demands of the labour market, beginning with the production and communication of better labour market data. In its pre-budget submission for 2017, Polytechnics Canada petitioned the federal government to take a more active role in connecting students with employers, beginning with the production of better labour market data.

College/University Co-operation

2016 saw colleges and universities continue to deepen their connections through a number of pathway agreements, collaborations, and other initiatives. Perhaps one of the most significant collaborations came at the beginning of the year, when Colleges and Institutes Canada and Universities Canada launched an online resource to support universities and colleges looking to foster new cross-sector collaborations and partnerships. In the summer of 2016, six postsecondary institutions based in Edmonton announced that they would work more interdependently to make Edmonton itself a more desirable destination for PSE.

These broader collaborations were complemented by dozens of new articulation agreements, guaranteed transfer agreements, and diploma-to-degree pathway agreements between Canada’s universities and colleges. In April, University World News ran a piece arguing that as students’ take increasingly diverse paths through PSE, governments and institutions will need to bolster their efforts to ensure that credit transfer policies keep up with changing times. The article specifically highlighted the efforts of the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer, which it suggests can offer a potential model for other jurisdictions looking to make the boundaries between institutions and PSE sectors more porous.

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Notes: While by no means exhaustive, this list has been prepared by our editorial and management team to reflect the themes chosen by you, our readers, through your level of engagement with the stories published in our Academica Top Ten throughout 2016. We considered reader engagement data in combination with how frequently certain topics were covered by regional and national media, while also drawing on our team’s understanding and experience to determine which subjects had the greatest impact on the higher education landscape.

Like this:

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing

The fifth would pay $1

The sixth would pay $3

The seventh would pay $7

The eighth would pay $12

The ninth would pay $18

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59

So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. “Since you are all such good customers”, he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20”. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But,what about the other six men, the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his “fair share?”

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings

The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings)

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings)

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings)

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings)

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. “I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, “but he got $10!” “Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!” “That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!” “Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!” The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Considering the state of the economy these days, one might assume that people are happy just to have a job. Mentoring may seem like a luxury that you or your organization can’t afford. You may be thinking: Who has time to mentor? Everybody is doing more with less…we just can’t spare time for mentoring.

If you think mentoring is expensive, consider the cost of not mentoring: Does a football team win a championship without a group of coaches and assistant coaches continually working with players? Does an athlete achieve greatness without being mentored by superb trainers? Does an accomplished actor or actress win awards without learning from directors, voice coaches, acting teachers, dialect coaches, and others?

If you want to achieve your fullest career potential, the best thing you can do is find a mentor to work with. If you want your organization to achieve greatness, make sure that everyone gets involved with mentoring in some way. And, you might be surprised at how much the mentors learn as well. It’s a well-known fact that the best way to learn something is to teach it to others. When you mentor, you grow and learn.

What is Mentoring?

Mentoring is a relationship between two people with the goal of professional and personal development. The “mentor” is usually an experienced individual who shares knowledge, experience and advice with a less experienced person, or “mentee.”

Mentors become trusted advisers and role models – people who have “been there” and “done that.” They support and encourage their mentees by offering suggestions and knowledge, both general and specific. The goal is to help mentees improve their skills and, hopefully, advance their careers.

Mentoring is a great way to serve your people … and yourself. As team members develop in knowledge and skills, their performance naturally improves. When that happens, everyone wins. And you’ll find that YOU grow by mentoring, as well. As you reflect on your life experiences and distil them into nuggets to share with others, you “re-experience” the wisdom that’s inside of you. What’s wrong with that picture? NOTHING!

What are the Benefits of Mentoring?

Mentoring can be rewarding for you, both personally and professionally. Through it, not only can you build a stronger and more successful team, but you can also improve your leadership and communication skills, learn new perspectives and ways of thinking, and gain a strong sense of personal satisfaction.

For potential mentees, the benefits of mentoring can be huge. They get focused coaching and training from a skilled, knowledgeable and experienced individual, and they also get assistance and advice in navigating the many tricky situations that can arise in the workplace. This can help them work more effectively, overcome obstacles, and break through blockages that would otherwise slow or stall their careers.

So, consider adding mentoring to your leadership strategies. And as you do, keep the following in mind:

All mentoring relationships need to focus on the people being mentored. Remember that it’s not about you – it’s about them. Accept them for who they are. Help them advance at their own place.

Avoid treating people you are mentoring as incompetent or incapable. Rather, think of them as individuals lacking in experience … valuable team members who need guidance. And don’t forget where YOU came from. Earlier in your career, you didn’t know what you know now. Why should they?

Don’t criticize or belittle. Instead, help “mentees” think through the consequences of their behaviour and to identify more positive ways of handling difficult or troubling situations. And, by all means, hold the people you are mentoring responsible for their success. Be willing to give of yourself and your time, but insist that they do the same.

But even if you understand the benefits of mentoring and it sounds like a great idea, you have to decide whether this sort of time-consuming, in-depth relationship is right for you and for the person you’re thinking of mentoring. If the mentoring relationship has arisen informally and spontaneously, then the chances are that things are fine. However, if you’re taking a more formal approach to mentoring, it’s worth exploring your reasons for mentoring and asking yourself whether you want to take this type of commitment further. To do so, ask yourself these questions:

Is mentoring the best way of developing the knowledge, skills and attitudes the potential mentee needs? Or would other approaches be quicker or more effective?

How will mentoring contribute toward your own career goals, and to the goals of your team and your organization?

Is mentoring a particular individual a good use of your time? And are you comfortable that you’ll be able to devote time to him or her on a regular basis?

Do you have knowledge, skills and experience that the mentee is likely to find helpful?

How much personal satisfaction are you likely to get from the relationship? Does this justify your involvement? And do you like the individual enough to want to invest time in mentoring him or her on a regular basis?

In what areas are you willing to help? Are there any areas that you don’t want to go near?

What You Should Consider?

Although you may want to jump right in with both feet, make sure that you also think about these practical considerations:

Formality of approach – Do you want to take a relaxed, ad hoc approach to mentoring, or do you want to approach sessions in a more structured, formal way?

Frequency of contact– How much time can you commit to this relationship?

Can you meet (however you do that) weekly? Biweekly? Once a month?

How long can you spend in each meeting? Half an hour? An hour? More?

Do you want to be available between “formal” sessions?

Method of contact – Would you prefer face-to-face meetings, phone calls, or emails? If you were to use phone calls, who places the call?

Duration of partnership – Do you want to limit the length of the mentoring partnership? Do you want to set regular intervals to review whether you’re both happy with the relationship, or do you just want to informally review progress on an ongoing basis?

Confidentiality – How will you approach confidential business information? Think of ways to speak about general concepts and situations while maintaining confidentiality.

Where to Draw the Line?

When developing a mentoring relationship, make sure you have clear boundaries of what you can and cannot do for the mentee.

Answer the above questions to help yourself define the boundaries for the relationship. Then, when you’re meeting, you’ll better understand your own mindset – what areas you’re interested in covering, and what you will and will not do. Take the lead on where you’ll allow the mentoring relationship to go and what ground you’ll cover. As a general guide, focus on your expertise and experience. If anything is beyond your skills and abilities, refer the mentee to another expert. For example, if a discussion about human resources issues raises a concern about employment law, consider sending your mentee to an internal expert or attorney. If conversations about work problems lead into personal or family problems, the mentee may need more focused professional help from a psychologist or therapist.

As a mentor, you can become the mentee’s confidante and adviser. You may be called upon to be a “sounding board” for all sorts of issues and concerns. So know in advance how you’re going to deal with difficult situations.

By mentoring effectively, you can do a lot to improve the performance of key individuals within your team, thereby helping yourself reach team and organizational goals. Mentoring can also give you a great overall sense of personal satisfaction, knowing that you’re helping someone else learn and grow on a professional and personal level.

Before you begin a mentoring partnership, it’s useful to think about your reasons for becoming a mentor and the practical considerations and logistics of such a relationship. If you decide that mentoring is right for you, the time and effort that you put into it can reap great rewards that far exceed your expectations.

Like this:

“The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of the young mind.”

Anatole France, Nobel Prize for Literature , 1921

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Drawing from my experience and long association with the academia and students at B Schools I am writing this article as a small attempt to review and share with you some of the basics in B School teaching. I have learnt these skills over the years, primarily, to keep myself strengthened and on top of good teaching practices. This is but only a review or refresher of some of the basics we all know and use in our classrooms.

Different institutions implement various teaching practices depending upon their students and their circumstances. What follows are some reminders or descriptions of different approaches we are all familiar with and have utilized. Sometimes we get caught up in the day-to-day activities and lose sight of the various approaches we could be implementing. We address the teacher’s how, not the subject-matter what, of good practice in education. We recognize that content and pedagogy interact in complex ways. We are also aware that there is much healthy ferment within and among the disciplines. What is taught, after all, is at least as important as how it is taught. But, in contrast to the long history of research in teaching and learning, there is little research on the college curriculum.

We cannot, therefore, make responsible recommendations about the content of good education in business courses. That work is yet to be done but we can safely say that an education should aim to prepare students to understand and deal intelligently with modern life. What better place to start but in the classroom and on our campuses? What better time than now?

Most professors want to improve their teaching performance. Some look toward their teaching evaluations for hints or suggestions on ways to improve. One problem with this method is often student comments are focused on general statements like “the tests are too hard” or “the professor isn’t very interesting.” Certainly, professors can learn from their own mistakes, or conversely, from their own triumphs. However, in my experience, professors learn from the ‘standout teachers’ in our profession—the students.

In my pursuit to learn and improve I have many a times asked my students to think about the best and worst professors they have ever had and tell me what made their teaching styles so memorable. Based on my discussions and experience with hundreds of B School students over the years, I am pleased to share with you some simple ways by which teachers can improve their performance in the classroom. See how you score, as a teacher, on the following:

Be available

This suggestion goes beyond holding office hours. It means we as teachers need to be more approachable. One student commented that just seeing a teacher talking to students in the hallway, not necessarily about class, gives a great impression. Some students pointed out that too often professors seem to “rush” out of class, folding up notes and books as they head for the door. Students interpret this as the professor’s lack of time or desire for students’ questions and interactions. Suggestions included requiring students to come by for just three minutes to meet the professor. Students agreed this would make a very positive impression and contrary to our thoughts, would not be seen as an inconvenience by most students.

Nowadays, many of the students’ academic issues and day to day problems can be solved by emails but here, again, the professors should respond to the students’ queries as soon as possible otherwise it would only leave a negative impression in the minds of students.

For student motivation and involvement, it is recommended that we have frequent contact with our students in and out of the classroom or electronically via emails. Students appreciate knowing that faculty members care and are willing to help them when they hit tough times. This relationship with faculty encourages intellectual commitment and values.

Collaborate and use current examples

Another easy one, but it seems that even the best teachers tend to fall back on comfortable examples they have used over time. The point is, even last year’s examples are not current. This reflects on your perceived knowledge, class preparation, and your interest level for the class and students.

Many students are enthusiastic when the activities they are involved with are team efforts rather than doing things individually. Learning is enhanced, collaborative, social and not competitive and isolated when working with other students. Sharing ideas and response to criticisms and reactions is truly a learning experience.

Keep the class interactive

The Socratic method of students only listening to lectures is not as effective as the student being involved in the process. Learning is not a spectator sport. Personally, I find it difficult to learn listening, memorizing packaged assignments, and regurgitating answers, without being actively involved. It is my view that students and teachers, both, must discuss their experiences, and daily lives.

Students prefer discussions and interaction with the professor even in large classes. While each practice can stand alone on its own, when all students are present and involved, the teaching and learning effects multiply. Even though we are business professors, we do not know everything about business and, of course, we do not know everything about different or innovative business ideas and techniques in every kind of business setting. If we recognize this fact, we can learn many details from our students.

Everyone is different and have different talents. Students learn in many different ways and styles. As teachers we must identify the cultural and diverse needs of students so as to facilitate their learning experience.

Test what you teach

Several students complained about the teachers who ask questions over material never covered in the classroom or in the textbook. They are not asking for the same information or examples, but at least the opportunity to use the same logic or approach to answering questions. Make sure you cover only what you Sometimes we keep the same questions used on previous exams and consequently, we may not have covered or emphasized that material for that specific class.

Students too need feedback on their performance. The challenge is in assessing existing knowledge and competence. Knowing what I don’t know has been advantage for me when I admit that I don’t know. There are however, many opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement.

Remember and use students’ names

Students like to be called by their names and believe this helps them ‘connect personally’ with the professor. They acknowledge that in classes with more than 30 students, it is not easy or expected but they appreciate when professors do take the time to learn their names. There is something good to be said about personalization.

Treat Students like they are your customers

Ask students what they would like to spend more time covering. If you see a student scoring poorly on an exam, ask if there is something you can do to help. Set the bar low and we get low performance, set the bar high we get high performance. High expectations results in positive self-fulfilling positive expectations.

Be enthusiastic and proactive

If you look bored or sound bored, you are. Enough said. Your lack of enthusiasm should not be evidently visible to the students as this can bring in comments from students, like “We just want to know you care, after all, we are paying part of your salary.”

Use humor in examples

Students respond well to humor. But remember, humor is relative. You want them to laugh with you, not at you. Also, do not make fun of students in the class. While sometimes very tempting, more often than not, it is viewed by students as an, “I’m smarter than you” tactic whereby you are perceived as a “jerk.” In addition, if you use humor in class, make sure it’s relevant to the topic or point you are making.

Smile

Smile, it is an integral part of any culture with universal meaning that is easy, free, and requires no additional time or effort. Try this and you will have many students admiring you for your ‘interpersonal’ skills.

The suggestions I have made here have worked wonders for me and I hope would also be helpful to any teacher who is committed to excellence in teaching skills and performance. Please share your experiences and suggestions and I would be happy to add them to the above in solidarity and our common objective of professional development.

Like this:

A lioness was jumping from one hillock to another. While doing so, she gave birth to a cub. The cub fell down into a flock of sheep that was passing by. He got mixed up with the sheep and started to live and behave like them. He had no idea that he was a lion. He had never roared like a lion; sheep don’t roar; He had never been alone like a lion; sheep are never alone. They are always in a crowd, which is cozy, safe. They are afraid of being alone.

Then, the cub started growing up. It was a strange phenomenon. Mentally, he identified with the sheep but biology did not follow suit. Nature takes its own course! He became a beautiful young lion, but because things happened so slowly the sheep also got accustomed to the lion as he got used to them. The sheep thought he was a little crazy – did not behave, kept on growing, pretending to be a lion! He couldn’t be a lion. They had seen him from birth; they had brought him up, given him their milk. And though he was non-vegetarian by nature, this lion had lived like a vegetarian because sheep are vegetarian. He ate grass with great joy. So they accepted the fact that he was bigger and looked like a lion. A very wise sheep said, “It is just a freak of nature. It happens once in a while. “

The lion himself also accepted this. The very idea that he was lion was improbable! He was surrounded by all those sheep, and sheep psychoanalysts said: “You are just a freak of nature. Don’t worry. We are here to take care of you.”

One day, an old lion passed by and saw this young lion among the sheep. He couldn’t believe his eyes! He had never seen or heard of such a thing, that a lion was in the middle of a flock of sheep and no sheep was remotely afraid. And the lion was walking exactly like the sheep, grazing on grass. The old lion forgot he was going to catch a sheep for breakfast. He felt so strange that he tried to catch the young lion. But he was old and slow; the young lion escaped. Though he believed he was a sheep, the presence of danger eliminated all such identification. He ran like a lion, and the old lion had great difficulty in catching up. But finally the old lion got hold of him and our young sheep-lion wept and said, “Forgive me, I’m a poor sheep!”

The old lion said, “you idiot! Come with me to the pond.” The pond was without ripples, like a mirror. The old lion said, “Look at my face and look at yours. Look at my body and look at yours.” In a second, there came a great roar! All the hills echoed it. The sheep disappeared! He was a totally different being – he recognized himself. His identification with the sheep was not a reality, just a mental concept. Now he saw the reality. The old lion said, “Now I need not say anything. You have understood. “

The young lion felt a strange energy, which was dormant till then. He could feel tremendous power, though all this while he had been a weak, humble sheep. All the humility, all the weakness, all of it simply evaporated.

This parable is about the master and the disciple. The master’s function is only to bring the disciple to see who he is and that what he goes on believing is not true.

Your mind is not created by nature, your brain is. Remember the difference. Your brain is the mechanism that belongs to the body, but your mind is created by the society in which you live – by the religion, by the ideology your parents followed, by your educational system, by all kinds of things. That’s why there is a Christian mind and a Hindu mind, a capitalist mind and a communist mind. Brains are natural but minds are created. It depends on which flock of sheep you belong to.

The reality is that you are not mind, you are something beyond mind. Hence it is absolutely necessary that the mind stops being and you continue, so that for the first time you can know that you are not mind because you are still there. Mind is gone, you are still there – and with greater joy, greater glory, greater light, greater consciousness, greater being. Mind was pretending, and you had fallen into the trap.

What you have to understand is the process of identification – how one can get identified with something which he is not.